‘Nothing. It’s just … you look different in person.’
‘Well, the press only photograph me if I’m standing next to a dead body, so … sad face.’
‘You’re not trying to tell me that this is your take on a happy face?’ Ashley asked, laughing.
‘This?’ said Wolf. ‘No. This is my been up for a week, misunderstood hero, possibly the only person brave and smart enough to catch a genius serial killer, face.’
Ashley laughed: ‘Is that right?’
Wolf shrugged as she stared at him, intrigued.
‘Breakfast?’ she suggested.
‘What have you got?’
‘The best café in the world just down the road.’
‘One: the best café in the world is Sid’s, round the corner from mine. And two: you’re under home protection. You can’t leave.’
‘You’ll protect me,’ she said dismissively as she started pulling windows closed.
Wolf was torn. He knew that he should not indulge her, but he was enjoying their conversation and did not want to do anything to ruin it.
‘I’ll just put some shoes on,’ she said as she headed towards the bedroom.
‘You could consider some trousers too,’ he suggested.
Ashley stopped and looked at him in mock offence. She caught him glancing back down at her legs again before looking away.
‘Why? Am I making you nervous?’
‘Far from it,’ said Wolf indifferently. ‘You just look horrible. Bleh! I can’t take you out with me looking like that.’
Ashley laughed again at his unconvincing insult. She walked over to the clothes horse, untucked her vest top so that it dropped to the top of her thighs, and then slid out of the denim shorts. Wolf was too stunned to even try to look away. She then wriggled into a pair of skintight ripped stonewash jeans before effortlessly scooping her hair up into a messy ponytail that only made her look more attractive.
‘Better?’ she asked him.
‘Not in any way,’ he answered honestly.
She smirked. She never behaved like this, but, with possibly only three days to live, she was enjoying flirting with the man who only had five days left himself. Sliding her feet into a pair of well-worn Converse All Stars, she grabbed her keys off the kitchen table.
‘How do you feel about heights?’ she asked him quietly.
‘Don’t want to fall off them,’ he replied, confused.
Ashley grinned. She tiptoed past the front door, walked out onto the balcony and then turned back to Wolf:
‘Shall we?’
Wolf felt that Ashley had overhyped the dismal little café. The contents of his fry-up seemed to have a life of its own as the various items glided across the plate over a film of grease. Ashley had not even managed to finish her toast. He suspected that she had merely wanted an excuse to get out of the flat and had never actually been inside before, doubting that anybody would make the same mistake twice.
‘No offence, Lochlan, but this café is—’
‘I work here.’
‘… good. It’s good.’
They had attracted a number of looks on their short journey down the high street, although Wolf could not be sure whether this was people recognising them or simply staring at Ashley. They had chosen a spot beside the window, as far away from the other steel-gutted patrons as possible, and talked easily about nothing in particular for over twenty minutes.
‘I’ve been worried about you,’ blurted Ashley when Wolf had believed they were still on the subject of favourite Bon Jovi albums.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘How are you … dealing with everything?’
‘Let me get this straight. You’re due to die in three days’ time and you’re worrying about me?’ asked Wolf, seizing the opportunity to put his cutlery down.
‘You’re due to die in five days’ time,’ she shrugged.
This caught him off guard. He had been so caught up with the investigation that he had not realised how quickly his own big day was approaching.
‘I’ve been watching the news a lot,’ said Ashley. ‘There’s not much else to do when you’re locked up in four rooms. It’s like watching a cat playing with a mouse, and the more destroyed you look, the more whoever’s doing this seems to tease you.’
‘I didn’t know I had a destroyed look,’ joked Wolf.
‘You do,’ Ashley said simply. ‘What happened to those people, whatever happens to me, it’s not your fault.’
Wolf let out an involuntary snort. She was wasting her time trying to make him feel better.
‘You seem weirdly OK about the whole thing,’ he said.
‘I’m a strong advocate for fate.’
‘Not to burst your bubble, but from what I’ve seen, if there is a god we have a serious problem because he is not on our side.’
‘It’s good I’m not talking about God then. Just – things have a funny way of working out.’
‘Such as?’
‘Such as life bringing you here to me this morning: two people who should never have met, so that I finally have the chance to atone for something I did years ago.’
Wolf was intrigued. Instinctively, he looked around to ensure that no one was listening in. He had been so captivated by Ashley that he had almost forgotten where they were. The flawless woman looked preposterously out of place in such dour surroundings. It was the polar opposite to watching Andrew Ford squatting in the lavish embassy.
‘Promise you’ll let me finish before you … just promise.’
Wolf folded his arms defensively and leaned back in his chair. They both knew that Edmunds had found the five thousand pounds from Vijay Rana’s account.
‘Four years ago I was working in a pub in Woolwich. It was a rough period for us. Jordan was only one and I was trying to separate from his father, who was not a nice man at all. I could only work part-time while my mum looked after Jordan.
‘Vijay was a regular there. He’d come in most lunchtimes and we were quite friendly. On more than one occasion he’d seen me in tears about money or the divorce. He was a kind man. He used to leave me ten-pound tips, which I’d try to give back to him, but he wanted to help. It meant a lot.’
‘Maybe he wanted something more than just to help,’ said Wolf bitterly. He had no love for Khalid’s brother.
‘He wasn’t like that. He had a family. So, one day he came to me with a proposition. He told me that a friend of his was in trouble with the police but that he knew they were innocent. He offered me five thousand pounds just to say that I had seen someone on my walk home at a specific time. That’s it.’
‘You gave the false statement?’ Wolf asked darkly.
‘I was desperate – and I’m ashamed to say that I agreed to do it. I didn’t think it could really make that much of a difference, and at the time me and Jordan had about fifteen pounds to our name.’
‘It made all the difference.’